NSW Fair Trading wants detective software

The Department monitors and administers a variety of traders such as car dealers, real estate and travel agents and building companies under 40 separate Acts of parliament. It is seeking new network intelligence analysis software to ensure that it "knows what it knows", across its multiple databases during investigations into criminal and civil breaches of the law.

The tender closes on November 14 and seeks data mining and intelligence software capable of interrogating its many Windows 2000 and HP/UX Unix databases. The software would be required to search databases across the departments' 29 locations across the state, supporting more than 1,400 end-user PCs.

The department wants analysis software that will enable it to focus investigations on unfair or uncompetitive market behaviour - and to be able to identify such behaviour through data.

It also seeks to improve the productivity of its investigations by identifying patterns of behaviour or linkages between large amounts of disparate information.

The winning bid is expected to provide implementation and maintenance services, as well as applicable upgrades through the life of the contract.

The department is also seeking a solution that boasts a "scaled down" version that its investigators can use in the field on laptop and notebook computers.